Cancer remains one of the major causes of death around the world. Worldwide, more than one-eighth of all deaths are caused by cancer(1). In the developed countries, cancer follows only coronary diseases as the leading cause of death and is third after coronary and diarrheal diseases in developing countries. It was estimated that more than 12 million new cases of cancer and 7.6 million deaths from cancer occurred worldwide in 2007. The types of cancer that are most prevalent throughout the world varies by geographic region. For example, worldwide, breast cancer is the most frequently diagnosed cancer in women. Depending on the geographic location, female breast cancer incidence rates for 2002 vary to the extent of more than 25-fold. For example, North America, Australia, and Northern and Western Europe have the highest incidence of breast cancer; intermediate levels are reported in Eastern Europe. Large parts of Africa and Asia have the lowest rates.
Although the understanding of the causes of cancer and the development of methods to treat the disease have evolved over the past 40 years or so, there are still many forms of the disease which respond poorly to treatment. Specifically, advanced hepatocellular carcinoma (also known as, HCC or primary liver cancer) and pancreatic cancer are two examples of malignancies for which current treatments are far from satisfactory. Treatment of cancer can involve many modalities including surgery, radiation treatment, chemotherapy, and combinations of these. The choice of treatment and the success of the treatment are dictated by the type of cancer, the stage of the disease, and whether or not previous treatments have been used.